


Fluffy Pillow

by fencecollapsed



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Comfort, Coming Out, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Headcanon, Paul is the coolest uncle, Pre-Canon, Symbolism, bi paul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 00:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20200867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencecollapsed/pseuds/fencecollapsed
Summary: Paul was winding down after a long day at the office when the knocks came. He didn't know what he expected to see when he opened the door, but it certainly wasn't his best friend's 12-year-old daughter standing all alone, dripping wet from the rain.





	Fluffy Pillow

**Author's Note:**

> There aren't nearly enough fics about Paul's relationship with Alice

Paul was winding down after a long day at the office when the knocks came. He didn't know what he expected to see when he opened the door, but it certainly wasn't his best friend's 12-year-old daughter standing all alone, dripping wet from the rain.

"Alice?" Paul collected her in his arms without hesitation, pulling her through the door. "It's so late and it's pouring out, what are you doing here?"

Alice stared down at the floor. She pulled her coat further around herself.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked, voice timid and soft.

"Alice is everything okay? Do I need to call your dad?"

"No! No, everything's fine.  _ Please _ don't call my Dad, Uncle Paul." Alice's tone shifted from meek to pleading, she looked up with her hands clasped and worry at her lip. She looked so little in that moment, Paul only saw the toddler who'd once begged him not to tell her mother she'd broken her favorite antique vase. "I want to talk to  _ you. _ "

Paul knew Alice. She was a good, sweet kid, and she trusted him. Whatever was going on, there was a reason she didn't want her parents to know. There was a reason she'd come to him instead. With a sigh he made his decision, because although the thought of Bill and Angela worrying for their daughter's safety at this hour was terror-inducing, the thought of betraying his niece's trust was worse. So Paul locked his door behind them.

"C'mon, let's sit down.”

Alice sat at the end of the sofa, her knees locked together and her shoulders pulled to her ears. An old throw pillow sat on her lap, a pink fluffy one she'd left behind once when she was little and stayed the night. That pillow was the only real splash of decorative color in Paul's apartment; he could never explain why he'd kept it, somehow it had always seemed to belong there. Alice had never taken it back home.

Paul waited quietly, a few inches off to give Alice her space. Even when she was ready to speak, she kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"I feel so  _ weird _ … All my friends have been so wrapped up in the boys they like lately, they're always talking about their crushes and… _ kissing, _ " Alice's nails dug into the fluffy pillow at that, her lips curling in revulsion. "Like, Kenzie Cochran made out with Jeremy Baker last week, and now she's always holding his stupid hand and even when it's just us she won't  _ shut up  _ about him! And I  _ hate  _ it!"

She glanced at her uncle for some kind of response and he nodded. With a huff through her nose she continued.

"They all keep asking me who  _ I'm _ crushing on, and why won't I tell them, and when am I going to get with the program and kiss a boy already? And I can't just say I don't  _ want  _ to kiss boys because…"

Alice's voice broke. With a sniffle she let her head fall, her wet, wavy brown hair curtaining her face. She hugged her pillow tight to her chest like a shield. Scooting a little closer, Paul placed a comforting hand on her back.

"Hey, it's okay." He assured.

"I-I'm sorry," Alice hiccuped, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "This is stupid, I shouldn't be bothering you…"

"It's not stupid, Alice." Paul gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I don't want to kiss boys, I don't  _ like _ boys, I like…" Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I like girls…"

Alice peered sideways at Paul through the curtain of her hair. Her posture held stiff and tense, hunched at the shoulders, a small quiver at her lip. She seemed more afraid of the words themselves than Paul's reaction, which prompted his instinct to protect. From what, he wasn't sure. The world that had made her so afraid of her own truth, maybe. That would be a tall order, but at least he could make Alice  _ feel  _ protected. He made sure to keep his touch gentle, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Without hesitation she fell to his side and enveloped herself in the safety of his embrace.

"Oh, Alice," He murmured, squeezing her tight. "There's nothing wrong with that, nothing at all."

At his assurance, Alice immediately relaxed in his arms with a sigh of catharsis. She slipped her own arms around his middle and squeezed even tighter, sniffling against his chest. The safety she felt was so freeing, a crushing weight had been lifted from her shoulders she hadn't even realized she was carrying.

"I like girls," She said again, a little louder this time. She didn't fear the words anymore. "It feels nice to say, actually. I like girls!"

"You like girls!" Paul confirmed, glad to see her brighten up.

Alice moved from the embrace and threw her fists to the air. "I like girls!"

Paul mimicked the action. "I love my lesbian niece!"

_ "Yeah!" _

Alice's huge, shaky grin warmed Paul's heart. She threw herself back into his arms, this hug just as tight as the last but somehow completely different. Alice wasn't seeking safety anymore, she was celebrating with someone she loved. Someone she trusted, who she knew understood. 

"Thank you, Uncle Paul," She said.

"Hey, of course," Paul assured, patting her back. "Thank you for trusting me. That means a lot."

"You're the coolest person I know. If anyone would get it, it's you."

Paul bristled with pride at the compliment. Alice thought he was  _ cool _ . He was officially  _ The Cool Uncle. _ He hugged a little tighter and suddenly realized how much Alice was still shivering.

Had she walked all the way here in the rain?

"Hey, I might make myself some coffee, do you want anything? I think I have hot chocolate." Paul asked casually.

"That would be nice, thanks."

Alice ran her hands over her pillow as she waited. It was worn from age and frayed at a seam from the way she handled it when she was nervous, but it was just as soft as it always had been. It was strange that a decorative piece of furniture that didn't even stay at her home could have just as much meaning to her as an old stuffed animal or a baby blanket.

"Do you like it with water or milk?" Paul called from the kitchen.

"If you put water in my hot chocolate, you're not my favorite uncle anymore." Alice warned.

"Okay, message received." A pause. "You're lucky, you know."

"Lucky how?"

"You know what you like so early. I didn't figure out I liked men  _ and  _ women until college."

Alice grinned to herself, pumping her fist silently. She  _ knew it _ . Maybe Paul had known it about her, too. Maybe that was part of why they'd always been so close; an unspoken knowledge they had something in common.

"How did you figure it out?" Alice asked.

"Oh, there was a guy in my hall. Jack something, I can't remember his last name. First guy I had a real thing for. We were friends first, and then I started feeling all weird around him. Butterflies in the stomach, the whole thing. For like a week I thought I was dying, and then it hit me; 'Paul, you idiot, you're into this guy!'"

Alice squeezed her pillow in her hands and threw it upwards in her excitement. 

_ "That's how I feel about Kenzie Cochran!"  _ She shrieked.

"You like her?"

"I think so! I mean,  _ maybe _ . I-" Alice cut herself off, jumping in surprise when Paul's phone vibrated against the coffee table. "Uncle Paul! Phone!"

Alice looked down at the lit screen to read the caller ID.

It was her father.

Paul slid from the kitchen and clumsily scooped his phone off the table.

"Hey! Bill!" A nervous pause. "Yeah, yeah, no… Alice is-" He pursed his lips and Alice could hear her dad interrupt over the speaker. "Bill. Bill. Hey, Bill? Everything's fine. Alice is here with me."

Alice could hear her dad's voice raise through the speaker and Paul moved the phone from his ear. The tone was hard to read; panic, relief? Hopefully not anger.

Alice caught Paul's eye and mouthed  _ "Is he freaking out?"  _ Paul tipped his hand back-and-forth in a motion of  _ "kind of." _

"She's  _ fine _ , Bill, everything's fine. She just wanted to talk to me about something and we lost track of the time. I'll bring her home soon, it's-" Another interruption. Paul reared back with a tense expression and waited. "Bill, do you just want to talk to her?"

He and Alice exchanged knowing looks. Alice took the phone.

"Hi, Dad. Yes, I'm okay. You don't need to come get me, Uncle Paul said he'd bring me home. Well, because we're not done talking yet! I don't want to tell you over the phone. No, it's nothing bad, I'll… I'll fill you in later, okay, Dad? Yeah. Okay, I love you."

Alice handed the phone back to Paul, mouthing a quick  _ "sorry" _ which he waved off. He went back to the kitchen as he finished his conversation with Bill, assuring him maybe five consecutive times he'd have Alice back home soon.

Alice settled back onto the sofa. She grabbed a knitted beige blanket hanging off the back and threw it open so it lay over her legs. She kept a loose embrace around her fluffy pillow, feeling the comfort it held warm in her chest.

Paul came back out shortly with two mugs, one of which he handed to Alice and the other he set on a coaster on the coffee table. He slid another coaster in Alice's direction as a not-remotely-subtle hint.

"I don't have little marshmallows anymore but I put in one big one."

Alice smirked with false annoyance. "I  _ guess _ that's okay…"

Paul grinned.

"So," He said as he sat back down. "Why don't you tell me about this Kenzie Cochran?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
